Brother Andrew is known for smuggling Bibles into Communist countries in the back of his VW Beetle. Since 1968 he has traveled to Islamic countries to preach Christ’s love. He has made a point of meeting with some terrorist groups, including, most recently, the Taliban.
Matthew Vaughan recalls how Brother Andrew asked him:
Why are we filled with fear? Because we are not filled with faith! It’s either one or the other. With the resurgence of Islamic power in the world, proportionally, interest in Christianity is declining because of liberalism. Until we get the radical message of Jesus back into our preaching there is no hope. As we see our influence in ethics and in morals, decline, we see the other side rise in power and influence, and it scares us. So then, what do we do? We start shouting. But this is not a verbal battle, it is a spiritual battle (my boldfacing).
Relating his experience of Islam to his prior experience of Communism he comments:
I only see one enemy, and I only see one saviour. The enemy has one aim, and that is to stop the work of Christ. We have only one aim, to advance the work of Christ.
He also reflects:
I have seen so many Muslims being baptised, and then some of them are killed soon afterwards. These are all people I know personally, and it causes me a lot of pain.
Commenting on Christians who travel to Muslim countries he says:
I want people to get drawn in to the spiritual battle. I don’t see Islam as a threat; I see it as a challenge. But if we don’t respond to the challenge, it will turn into a threat.
Here Brother Andrew leads from the front. So, on a recent trip to Pakistan he asked to go to the most dangerous Islamic training school (madrassah). He went to the one where Mullah Omar, the head of the Taliban, had studied and preached the gospel to the students there. The Taliban leader told him:
Andrew, consider this your second home. Bring more Bibles, bring more books, come back and speak to us about Jesus.
But then people wrote to Brother Andrew saying,
What are you doing? This is a dangerous, evil place!
But he responds:
Well, that’s exactly why I’m there. There’s no reason why we should be paralysed by fear. These are lost people, and Jesus died for them.
It is Brother Andrew’s conviction that the way to resolve the current tension between Christians and Muslims in many Western countries is a mass movement of ordinary Christians reaching out to Muslims at a very basic and personal level. He asks:
Why are we falling into the trap of thinking we cannot reach Muslims? Don’t we know Muslims in our street? We don’t have to ‘evangelise’, just show them you care for them. That’s where it begins, greeting them on the street.
I am reminded of Paul’s words, as he thought of God reconciling the world to himself in Christ, stating,
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
May the love of Christ drive us to take this message of reconciliation and implore Muslims, on Christ’s behalf, to be reconciled to God and begin to live for the one who died for them and rose again.
Reference: Matthew Vaughan, “Meeting Brother Andrew” in Evangelicals Now (July 2008) 16-17
Posted June 29, 2008
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